In a role-oriented account of teaching as a moral practice, what distinguishes…

Concept

Teaching is a moral practice because classroom decisions affect learners' welfare, fairness, autonomy, and opportunities.

A role-oriented professional judgment is therefore assessed through facts and shared norms, and its reasons must be open to public or professional scrutiny rather than resting only on personal preference.

Application

Requiring teachers to justify moral judgments publicly expresses this accountability: the teacher gives reasons that learners, colleagues, parents, or the wider professional community can examine.

Contrast

• Making decisions without justification treats professional judgment as private discretion.

• Enforcing morality through authority substitutes obedience for reasoned moral agency.

• Avoiding moral judgments overlooks the moral effects already present in choices about fairness, discipline, inclusion, and learning.

Result

Thus, the distinguishing responsibility is to justify moral judgments publicly.